a separate peace with Russia or a general peace in which she would be the victor. But this was a sort of disappointment that tended to strengthen Russia and to intensify the spirit of revolutionary defence. It even strengthened the hope that the more headstrong and brutal German militarism remained, the sooner was internal division in Germany to be expected. Against Imperialistic Germany and its Junkers and pan-Germans Russia, moreover, still had the argument of war, and she would be glad to use that argument as a partner in a rejuvenated alliance of democracies.
But of a very different character were the disappointments that shortly after Bethmann-Hollweg's speech came from the Allies themselves. I need only recapitulate them—Lord Robert Cecil's speech in the Commons, M. Ribot's speeches in the Chamber, the vote of the French Chamber, the French refusal of passports, and the holding up of Mr. Ramsay MacDonald. In appearance the speeches by the Allied statesmen
